Proz membership. 27 pct. more expensive in the EU?? Thread poster: Thijs van Dorssen
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When I was reminded that my ProZ membership was about to expire I decided to renew it for another year, for a regular price of 100 $ US. While I was filling out the form I was asked to select a country and since I live in Germany I selected Germany. So far so good, but selecting a country in the EU automatically makes the membership fee switch from USD into EURO (100 EURO = 127 USD) thus increasing it by 27 % in relation to the USD.
Is there any valid reason for having to pay 27 % ... See more When I was reminded that my ProZ membership was about to expire I decided to renew it for another year, for a regular price of 100 $ US. While I was filling out the form I was asked to select a country and since I live in Germany I selected Germany. So far so good, but selecting a country in the EU automatically makes the membership fee switch from USD into EURO (100 EURO = 127 USD) thus increasing it by 27 % in relation to the USD.
Is there any valid reason for having to pay 27 % more for my membership than somebody who lives in the US?
There have been times when the US Dollar was stronger than the EURO. In those days I was billed in USD. Nowadays it is the other way around. I do not find it appropriate to be automatically billed in the currency that is favourable to the entity issuing the invoice.
Comments anybody?
Best,
Thijs ▲ Collapse
| | | | Peters Trans
France
Local time: 04:58
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| Euro/Dollar/Proz confusion | Dec 7, 2004 |
I have eventually decided to get platinum membership for the first time. I decided to go for just 6 months to see if it's really worth it, which I'm quite sure it will be, but I'v stopped and am awaiting some calrification from Proz. On the proz web site the membership prices appear with a blue euro sign just before the amount, so I logically presume the membership price is quoted in euros (as it states "80 euros")... I proceed with my application, choose form of payment where proz advises us of... See more I have eventually decided to get platinum membership for the first time. I decided to go for just 6 months to see if it's really worth it, which I'm quite sure it will be, but I'v stopped and am awaiting some calrification from Proz. On the proz web site the membership prices appear with a blue euro sign just before the amount, so I logically presume the membership price is quoted in euros (as it states "80 euros")... I proceed with my application, choose form of payment where proz advises us of charges on credit car etc. payments (understandable as Proz is based outside the EU), then the invoice appears stating price 80 x 1.33 exchange rate = Total cost of 106.40 euros. I send an email to proz this morning asking for clarification and have still received no answer... Not appearing very serious. To be honest, I'm having second thoughts now about proz, and the longer it takes to get a clear and logical explanation from proz, the higher the chance I will just forget about proz (much to me regret, as it is a great site, yet they're are other ones out there that are just as promising)..
Peter
Thijs van Dorssen wrote:
When I was reminded that my ProZ membership was about to expire I decided to renew it for another year, for a regular price of 100 $ US. While I was filling out the form I was asked to select a country and since I live in Germany I selected Germany. So far so good, but selecting a country in the EU automatically makes the membership fee switch from USD into EURO (100 EURO = 127 USD) thus increasing it by 27 % in relation to the USD.
Is there any valid reason for having to pay 27 % more for my membership than somebody who lives in the US?
There have been times when the US Dollar was stronger than the EURO. In those days I was billed in USD. Nowadays it is the other way around. I do not find it appropriate to be automatically billed in the currency that is favourable to the entity issuing the invoice.
Comments anybody?
Best,
Thijs ▲ Collapse
| | | | | No Euro credit card processor: 80 Euros = 106 *dollars* | Dec 7, 2004 |
Peter Michael wrote:
then the invoice appears stating price 80 x 1.33 exchange rate = Total cost of 106.40 euros.
Hi Peter,
I suspect the confusion was caused by a currency conversion. At this time ProZ.com does not have a Euro credit card processor, so for credit card payments by members in the Euro Zone the Euro price must be converted to US dollars. So, if you were paying by credit card, the invoice you saw was in USD, not Euros.
Best regards,
Jason
| | | | | Explanation of pricing by location | Dec 7, 2004 |
This has been discussed in the past and is covered in the FAQ.
The short answer: we have expenses in the EU (an employee, VAT, events, advertising, etc.) and can not afford to absorb the currency risk inherent in the fluctuating euro-dollar exchange. So like most companies with international expenses, we have had to set a different price for different areas.
This may make you feel that you are paying more. If it is any consolation, we are paying more to support you. For... See more This has been discussed in the past and is covered in the FAQ.
The short answer: we have expenses in the EU (an employee, VAT, events, advertising, etc.) and can not afford to absorb the currency risk inherent in the fluctuating euro-dollar exchange. So like most companies with international expenses, we have had to set a different price for different areas.
This may make you feel that you are paying more. If it is any consolation, we are paying more to support you. For further consolation, consider that two years ago, members in the euro zone were paying less. (By the way, we promised 18 months ago to hold the pricing policy no matter which way currencies swung (see the forums) and have not raised fees for more than three years.)
As for the people that want to pay the USD rate from Europe, I can understand how you feel but I must say that your position is short-sighted at best. If you paid 120 euros to join last year, and we are asking you to pay 100 euros to renew this year, your price has gone *down*, not up. Is it fair to argue that because of the weak dollar you only want to pay 75 euros this year, despite the fact that many of our expenses are euro-based and therefore do not change? Why should you pay less when we have to cover our euro expenses and VAT obligations? I am reminded of US companies who went to their translators in Argentina after the peso devaluation saying that they wanted to pay 1/3 of what they had been paying because of the newly weak peso. Short-sighted at best, opportunistic at worst.
The bottom line is that we have set the price for platinum membership in EU countries at 120 euros (100 for renewal). This is the level that I believe allows us to cover our expenses and grow in the EU, and we work very hard to deliver value that outweighs the expenses several times over. Most members renew, so I conclude that we are succeeding, nevertheless we will continue to work hard to deliver even more. If you believe the price in your area is fair, please invest in platinum membership. If you do not, please do not. We offer quite a bit for free and will continue to do so.
Thanks to all those who support the site! ▲ Collapse
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